Letter to the editor: Let's fight meth with smart policies, not extreme measures

Monday, April 7, 2014 - 8:45 am

Anyone who cares about Indiana should be disappointed to see that the state is now No. 1 in the country for meth lab busts. Meth abuse is clearly still a problem that needs to be addressed.

But it’s also important not to draw the wrong conclusions from these numbers. In my opinion, it should not be surprising that Indiana’s relatively new electronic blocking system is helping law enforcement officials uncover more meth-lab incidents. After all, that’s exactly what the system is designed to do.

Surely we can do better, and the Legislature should pass measures that make our blocking system stop and catch more criminals.

But I firmly reject the notion that rising meth lab numbers means we need to pass legislation that affects all Hoosiers.

A prescription requirement, for instance, would make basic health care more expensive for thousands of law-abiding citizens as well as contribute to lost productivity for businesses and decreased tax revenues for the state as a whole.

With the spring allergy season already upon us, we don’t need to be making it more difficult for families to get the basic medicines they depend on.

There’s no question that we have a lot of work to do to end the meth problem, but let’s adopt smart policies, not extreme measures.